While there isn’t anything really bad about the Remington X-Mark Pro (XMP) triggers, many of us in the shooting community consider it to be the weak point in the rifles offered by Big Green. Some of us simply prefer the old Remington trigger or wish for a crisper cleaner trigger pull but, whatever the reasoning, the fact is that lots of us swap out triggers first chance we get and Remington’s massive – and poorly managed – trigger recall likely added a fair few more converts to the ‘ditch the XMP’ crew.

Unless I am building a pure target (F-Class or similar) rifle off of a R700 action the trigger I’m most likely to replace the Remington factory trigger with the is very reliable and not too expensive Timney 510 but a few months ago a new – Canadian – offering hit the market from TriggerTech. Trigger Tech are very well know for making crossbow triggers but I think this is their first foray into the world of centrefire rifles.

Simple and Easy-To-Read Instructions

TrigerTech claim to have brought their friction-less technology to the rifle world and they say that this produces more consistency than the standard Remington trigger which uses a sliding friction sear/trigger interface.

I bought a couple of Triggertech triggers back in the summer and installed them in my PGW Rifles which until recently were shipped with XMP triggers (now shipped with… you guessed TriggerTechs ).  One of the new triggers went in my .338 LM Timberwolf and the other in my .308 Coyote. Over the past few months I’ve extensively tested both triggers and actually I went so far as to us the .308 in an F-Class match to see how it and especially this trigger would perform against top-line equipment.

The TriggerTech triggers I bought were the w/o safety flavour and they install as simply as can be using the trigger pins on the action. There is a single click adjustable screw that can be adjusted to move the pull weight and it is easy to use to get the shooter to his or her preferred trigger pull.

Easy Installation – old trigger out

New Trigger In

Unlike most triggers – even good ones – there isn’t any sense of real movement or progression. The trigger actually surprises me when it goes off; crisply and cleanly at the same point time after time after time. This isn’t the opinion formed after one range session to write an article but the opinion of a shooter who has been using the trigger in two guns for several months. Yes, I am impressed.

Priced less than the Timney 510 this trigger has to be my go to trigger whenever a XMP Remington trigger now needs swapping out. An excellent product that is well worth taking a look at.

I’ve not posted for a while because I’ve been very busy with a number of other matters but the upcoming Canadian Federal Election on Monday causes me to want to reach out to as many people as possible.  I ask that everyone eligible to vote in this election seriously consider two things: One – what will happen to the economy if the Liberal or NDP parties form government ? If you are not sure of the answer to this question please look at Alberta and Ontario for examples. Secondly, if you are a gun owner ( and if you found this page you likely are ) please consider that while the Conservatives didn’t give us everything we wanted, they did get rid of the Long Gun Registry and they also reigned in the RCMP who initially (and without notice) banned our Swiss Arms and CZ858’s.

The Conservatives are not perfect – no political party is – but in my opinion they are the very best choice for the Canadian economy.  For Canadian gun owners the Conservatives are the only major party that will work with us to allow us the freedom to enjoy our hobby, our sport and our culture of gun ownership.

Thank you for reading this.  If you are reading this outside of Canada please forgive the political message – hopefully you will appreciate how important this issue is.

Couldn’t agree more with this review. Point of Impact by Stephen Hunter is an EXCELLENT book and a must read for anyone who is a gun enthusiast.

Back in Mid Summer I embarked upon the journey of selecting a tactical rifle that would suffice for the F-Class game where it would be expected to be competitive against single shot long-barreled rifles that are purpose built for this most demanding of accuracy sports.

The selection of a suitable tactical rifle naturally focused upon which of the contenders could consistently shoot the smallest, tightest groups and so load development was geared towards that which would be most accurate at the distance that the particular upcoming match was to be shot which in this case was the relatively short ( by F Class standards ) range of 500m.

I’m fortunate to have on my own property a nice 500m shooting area so I was able to very easily shoot a particular load, record data, make up a new load and re-shoot.

My Favored Shooting Spot

I’d whittled down the rifle selection to two – a PGW Coyote and a customized Remington 700.  At day’s end the Coyote was chosen but not because it outshone the Rock Creek barreled Remy but because it allowed for the attachment of the better bipod – a LRA versus a Harris.  The choice of the Coyote though came at a price – weight – which quite sadly meant that the first choice of scope; a S+B Pmii had to be forgone for a lighter offering from Sightron ( their fine Siii 8-32×56 ).

The PGW Coyote in Match Condition

Most interestingly, the load I’d developed for long range using a Berger 185 over Varget was not the most  accurate at the 500m range and neither for that matter was another ‘go to’ load that utilized the Hornady 178g BTHP.  In fact the real surprise out of this whole exercise was that out of the variety of loads tested, the majority of the half minute or better groups were found to be shot using a load tipped with a Hornady 168g HPBT – and I though the 168g pills were obsolete !

The final load settled upon was 168g Hornady HPBT over 43.5 Varget in Lapua brass ignited with FGMM primers.  Velocity clocked at 2735 FPS using a Magento Speed chrony and confirmed by using Strelok Ballistic App for Android.

At load development ranges of 200m and 300m the 168g load turned in consistent sub-half minute results just like the one pictured below.

Sub Half MOA at 200m

At 500m the average 5-shot grouping opens up with the 168g load but still averages in the .5’s and since 500m is still shy of the 600 yard “wall” that so bedevils many 168g projectiles with an 11 degree tail I saw no evidence whatsoever of the yaw or tumble that I was mindful of.

Below is a pretty representative 5 shot group at 500m

5 Shots at 500M – 0.531 MOA

So now I figure I am pretty much set – it will be interesting to use a rifle designed for one thing (tactical use ) in a sport dominated by rifles purpose built for that game.  I’ll be posting results in a few weeks time.

Just a great movie and a ‘must see’ for all Gunnies !

This is an excellent article/review about the precision rifle portion of the Canadian National Service Conditions Championship.  Well worth a read:

http://www.amputee-shooter.com/nscc-2015-post-match-thoughts/

Very interesting – worth reading along with my review of the Henry in .357 posted here recently.

After a darn busy couple of months – so much for having time when you are retired – I’ve had a chance to play with a new rifle and I figured I ought to let you know my thoughts.

The subject of this review – Henry’s Big Boy Lever Rifle in .357 Magnum – represents a bit of a departure for me as my taste in long guns really leans towards the heavy barreled bolt gun that, topped off with good glass, is a half-minute or so paper puncher. In fact the Henry is only the second lever action rifle I’ve ever owned and the only one that currenty is in my possession.

What drew me into the purchase of the Henry was the calibre – I like a rifle that can shoot pistol rounds as it gives me an interchangeability with handguns and pistol cartridges are generally cheaper both to buy and make. While the Big Boy comes in .44 Mag and 45 Colt I figured the .357 was the best bet as it is compatible with my revolvers, is easy to shoot as a plinker ( especially with .38 Special ) and is an effective deer round at the short, woodland, ranges like those found in the trees around my bottom hayfield.

Like many, if not all, people who are true admirers of firearms I am always one to look at the fit and finish of a rifle. In fact I would admit to being quite picky about such things especially as the price tag of the rifle goes up but in this case I was quite simply stunned at how beautiful this rifle from Henry was put together. The folks who make this rifle really have done a fabulous job – the rich, deep bluing of the 20″ octagonal barrel reminds me of the bluing that one used to fine on really nice Smith &Wesson revolvers rises and the brass receiver, barrel and buttstock are highly polished but the wood – well, honestly I didn’t know that one could still even buy a modern gun that didn’t cost multiple thousands of dollars that had furniture so lustrous and well grained. Truly, the folks at Henry take pride in what they make and sell.

My previous, limited, experience with lever guns led me to believe that that they were a bit stiff out of the box and needed to be broken in before they smoothed out but not so with this rifle as it was smooth from the first – again evidence of something that has been well assembled.

The Henry Big Boy is a well balanced rifle but the heavy, octagonal, 20″ barrel is quite heavy which translates into an overall weighty rifle for what is, after all, a carbine. Not uncomfortably heavy but noticeable if you plan on carrying any real distance – and carrying you will as, perhaps oddly, no provision for a sling.

Of course the flip side to a rifle being a bit weighty is that the felt recoil is much diminished. Of course .357 in a carbine isn’t a particularly punchy round but out of the Henry it really does feel like you could shoot all day and running .38 special through the Big Boy will have you checking to make sure that a round fired wasn’t a squib load.

Having a rifle that is beautiful to look at and an easy to shoot is all well and good but, as Col Townsend Whelan once said, only accurate rifles are interesting. Now accuracy standards can’t be the same for all rifles and so I saw no point in trying to sandbag the rifle and shoot nice little 5 shot groups like I would for a scoped bolt gun but rather I decided to see what practical accuracy would be like from unsupported positions.

To aid my middle-aged eyes I have a Skinner Express peepsight installed on this rifle and I strongly recommend this as an upgrade over the stock supplied sights – the Skinner peeps complement the style of this rifle and really do help in aiming.

I figured that if I could hit the vitals of a deer at any ethical distance the calibre could manage that the rifle would pass a practical accuracy test so suitably equipped with the backing cardboard from a frozen medium size pizza ( the sacrifices I make ! ) I headed down to my target board to see how the Big Boy would score.

Shooting factory Remington .357 125g pills the Big Boy had no difficulty whatsoever at the pie plate test at 50 and 70 yards and at about 30 yards I was able to make consistent headshots on a Birchwood Casey BC 27 silhouette target.

During the shooting test I went through two boxes of ammo – it’s real easy to loose track with a gun this nice to shoot – and there were no jams, FTE, or FTF to report. Loading of this rifle is via a tube underneath the barrel and before buying this rifle I’d read about how reloading was difficult and that the tube goes flying everywhere etc etc. I think such comments to be overstated as while reloading the Henry isn’t quite as simple as loading from a port on the side of a receiver or loading a pump action shotgun it really isn’t anywhere near as difficult or time consuming as other reviews would have you believe. The only time I can think that this system of reloading may have very serious repercussions is a reload under the stress of a home defense scenario but if it comes to that – and a magazine tube full of .357 hasn’t solved the problem – then it is time to go for another weapon.

All said, I found the Henry Big Boy to be more than sufficiently accurate in my book for any plinking, Cowboy Action Shooting, short range deer hunting or home defense task that an owner could reasonably ask this rifle to perform. For me I think it also looks perfect over the mantle 🙂

The chaps over that 6.5 Guys Blog posted this excellent article that really is worth a read:

http://www.65guys.com/articles/5-tips-for-attending-your-first-precision-rifle-match/